1. Field of the Art
Generally, this application relates to data processing and computer networking. Certain embodiments relate to methods, devices, and systems for establishing secure connections between mobile or other electronic devices and enterprise computer networks.
2. Background
Convenient access by employees to enterprise network resources is a recurring problem, especially with mobile devices. Once a mobile device management (MDM) solution is installed on a mobile device, just about everything on the mobile device becomes enterprise data. This can be sub-optimal if a user of the mobile device wishes to use it for non-enterprise purposes.
Applications, or “apps” as they are sometimes referred to, are updated and revised frequently. It is not uncommon for an email application to be subject to an update patch every few months. Mobile devices and other computing devices often have many apps, each of which is updated frequently. This can make securing the mobile device from hackers difficult because a computing device is generally only as secure as its weakest link. If one application suffers from a security anomaly, potentially all of the data on the device may be compromised.
Because of these security vulnerabilities, many companies do not allow access by employees' own devices, commonly called bring-your-own-device (BYOD) access, to their corporate networks. Unless the employees consent to the MDM solution described above, which locks down everything on the user's device, corporations have not embraced a BYOD philosophy. An alternative is for employers to provide electronic devices to employees for enterprise access; however, this is costly and requires infrastructure to update.
Installing secure solutions on the various devices—that have different operating systems, memory sizes, and graphics abilities—can be daunting for an IT department, let alone a user. Users often do not have the expertise to troubleshoot their own devices, and there are just too many devices for IT departments to keep up.
Better security, flexibility, and integration of apps on mobile devices for connection to an enterprise network is needed.